The Oculus Rift is Now 4 Months Backordered

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Oculus Rift pre-orders opened on January 6th and were met with both excitement and resentment over the $600 price tag. That doesn’t seem to have stopped excited early-adopters from getting in line.

Oculus says that the first Rift headsets will begin shipping on March 28th. However, as day one pre-orders began to stack, folks watched as the estimated shipping date started to slip. First into April, then May, then June… and now those pre-ordering today likely won’t see their Rift until July.

The company is surely building up stock as quickly as they can, but the sliding shipping date suggests that demand has exceeded Oculus’ manufacturing capacity. Last week in a Q&A session on Reddit, Luckey said that the company was scaling up production to meet demand.

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Still underestimating demand to this day. Even back in kickstarter days they underestimated amount of backers as well as how much effort would go into manufacturing the dk1. Just look at Nav Patel’s talk on DK1 if you want to hear just how unprepared they have been. They really need a look at where their leadership is taking them. Not having tracked input and content at Rift launch is so shortsighted it’s unbelievable.

Why on earth would they still be underestimating especially after the rise of interest considering the number of DK sales, Facebook buyout, Samsung, PSVR, VIVE and Valve, Google, etc.. They could still be selling dk2’s or an updated dk2.5 with components replacing the parts they can’t source anymore to bring more developers on board. Even if they raised the price to bundle a Touch DK would be worthwhile. Seems like lost opportunity and I hope it doesn’t hurt them anymore than it already is.

DontGetMeStarted

When you talk rift launch are you referring to DK1? Tracked input in the initial kickstarter launch. There was like 5 people in the company at that point. I think hindsight is great but it was a brand new concept to go 100% would have been irresponsible.

I don’t think they have to worry about success. They keep talking about how the numbers have been more amazing then they could of hoped. And as long as there is VR happening i think it’s a win for consumers.

gnarppy

I meant Rift launch as in the consumer version and not DK’s. They could have put out Touch DK’s wired or with receiver dongles and extra camera in 2014 or 2015. It would’ve been janky experience but enough to get input going. It’s not even hindsight since we’ve wanted tracked input since before dk1 even shipped. They’ve been working on input w/ Carbon since before they bought them and they would have benefited from getting some DK’s out there.

Whoop Whoop

A gamepad was the safe choice to enable developers to begin making games with a known control system. Playing it safe could be seen as a wise move to ensure the long term success of VR.

The backlash to even including a subsidised xbox controller suggests that not everybody wants the same thing. It’s clear from this interview that the sim community didn’t want tracked input included:http://youtu.be/JQvFidopZug?t=532

gnarppy

I don’t mean bundle w/ Touch only. I mean having it available to consumers at the Rift’s launch as well as content.

A Valkyrie trailer said it was coming in 2014(and they said separately that it’ll launch whenever Rift would launch) so we can assume Rift was delayed internally.

In the meantime they really should have launched even just a wired constellation tracked controller to not lose or delay potential for content.

dansecdev

I’m with gnarppy – Oculus have been ham handed from onset and havent improved. Ever had any communications with them? When you can raise them they cant answer anything. Their doco is rubbish (developerside) they are unresponsive and don’t seem at all worried.
They have been doing this for years now, had miliions thrown at them have a chunk of staff and if anything have got more chaotic and lost most of their lead.
Learned nothing and don’t seem to care. I expect them to be replaced sooner rather than later. Done well usually beats done first when the lead isnt profound and obviously it isnt anymore.

Bryan Ischo

Pretty sure you’re just butt-hurt because they want to charge you $50 more than they charge “Yanks”. See above.

Everything I’ve read about the CV1 indicates that it is about as well done a piece of kit as you can do with current technology at a sub-$1000 price point. Not seeing how that indicates a company that has no focus.

I personally already have a DK2 and I am going to wait for a while before committing to something else. The DK2 is nice but there are three things that bother me the most: limited field of view (which makes me feel like I am looking through goggles at a world (which of course I am) rather than actually being in the world), low resolution (which makes games with things happening in the distance painfully hard to play – for example the Euro truck simulator game which is fun but anything beyond virtual 20 feet in front of you looks really bad), and poor quality lenses with a very small ‘sweet spot’.

As far as I know, the CV1 only fundamentally fixes one of these (the poor quality lenses). I’m going to wait until they fix one of the other two as well before buying again.

CURTROCK

They cant make them fast enough. Demand is exceeding supply. I guess it really depends on their manufacturing capacity, but all signs point to success. Looking forward to hearing some hard numbers on sales.

Mitt Zombie

It will be like 3dtv. Marketing will fool enough early adopters that they need this, but it will get used a few times and forgotten by most people.

I am prone to motion sickness so even though I have the PC for it already I will never buy this hurl inducing machine.

Dotcommer

Great! So now that you’ve expressed your narrow-minded (and clearly inexperienced) opinion, we’ll never have to hear from you again, right?

I mean, whats it like to be so fucking jaded that you never find curiosity or enjoyment in anything new? Clearly, you’ve never tried this generation of VR. I bet you you’ll end up trying out one from a friend and have a revelation once you experience it. But you’ll be so full of your own pride you’ll never admit to it and bitch and moan on the internet to justify your stubbornness and bring others down.

Bryan Ischo

I’m pretty sure you called it.

SandmaN

Well said, Dotcommer…. burn the troll!!

JK

Mitt zombie-
The first release was clearly aimed at enthusiast who for the most part already have rigs that blow the specs away and most likely already have a slew of gaming devices like Track IR, upper end joysticks, and game pads. Most of us have multi display setups as well and for the most part past on the 3D screens. This time around VR has the right tech and more importantly the developers. VR has also been out there since 2012 in dev form so it’s got a solid foundation this time around. The last time VR did cause a good amount of “hurl” but I had none of that with the new tech. VR is here to stay and when you end up buying yours for much cheaper be sure to thank us early adopters. I thought TrackIR was awesome when it came out and thought man I can’t wait till VR tech catches up. 2016. VR goes mainstream. Yea. That’s gonna make the history booksWIKIs.

Idealists

I am all for a burn on a troll but this dude wasn’t trolling and you are just being an asshat. He actually didn’t say anything that was inappropriate, call anyone names, just that this product is not for him and that he sees it gimmicky (paraphrasing) just like the 3DTV.

I find your comment “What’s it like to be so said jaded” because your response was “jaded” as hell. Grow up learn how to communicate with someone who has an opposing opinion without throwing shit, that’s how primitive monkeys communicate

Now I really want an Occulus Rift though I don’t want to be an early adopter because I am afraid it might turn out to be viewed as gimmicky and game developers won’t make serious games for it. All signs point away from that fear but again I am willing to wait to make sure.

CURTROCK

You sound like someone who has never tried VR.

yag

Bitching about VR on a site dedicated to VR… comparing VR with 3Dtv… the guy is obviously a troll.

no need to be bitter just cause you can’t use it :)
I don’t mind people bagging on a product but at the very least try to be objective about it, like what is the ratio of people getting sick to people who are unaffected by it, or if the consumer version has alleviated this somewhat
don’t use just yourself as a barometer of what fails and what succeeds, cause Oculus Rift does not revolve solely around you ;)

Heimdal

I’ts hilarious how wrong and yet confident people can be with their ignorant opinions :)

DM

Thats it, you RIDE that hate bandwagon brother!

I wonder why so many people hate on 3D but there is zero shortage of 3D movies at the cinema, 3D TV’s being sold, and 3D blu ray’s still being released all the time?
Maybe its because whilst all the haters are just being dumb, the rest of us actually try new things and maybe, just *maybe* they are cool enough we ACTUALLY fucking like them?

VR is awesome too, I tried it and it was great, then my dad tried it and got his own setup, and he was a guy who at 55 had never played a pc game in his life.

Nobody has been sick using my DK2 either.

CHEASE

I wish you VR luddites would all join a betting pool so I could take your money :)

SlyNine

If your crystal ball works so well why haven’t you win the lottery or made it big I’m the stock market?

You know why, because you don’t know shit, and when this stuff makes it big you’ll be no where to be found.

CHEASE

Knowing an industry is going to takeoff does not guarantee success on the stock market. That would require knowing a singly company, or a small group of companies, preferably small, unknown ones are going to blow up due to the technology. I just know VR as a whole is going to take off now.

SlyNine

And what are your reasons for believing this? Assuming that last sentence was a typo.

Because the best I’ve heard is comparisons to tv’s. But this is nothing like a 3d tv.

And I’d still have to disagree. Knowing if an industry is going to take off or not would make you hugely successful in the stock market. You’d just have to diversify your investments a little.

CHEASE

The reason is that many companies have already received enough investments for years of pre-market development because big financial players understand the potential and primacy of the technology.

I don’t think that you know how investing works if you think you can just throw money in the general direction of an emerging technology and expect to become wealthy. The players that get in early and have far more information and money than your or me (VCs, angel investors, etc) will make most of the money, and they still pick losers more than winners. If I was to simply pick a handful of VR companies and invest in them (assuming I am a qualified investor or they are public, which most of these companies aren’t) I would probably lose all of it because I don’t have as good information as they do.

If you could just buy a bunch of random VR equity and get rich that would represent a market inefficiency of enormous magnitude.

However, betting against VR doubters would represent a different kind of opportunity, and I would indeed take their money, because they are blind to even the most obvious technological trends.

SlyNine

My understanding of investing is not great. so I’ll concede the argument.

CHEASE

Also I just realized that we are both arguing for the same side.

SlyNine

My fault, my understanding of what a Luddite was, was wrong.

Johan Friedman

Lol, so the biggest thing to happen to entertinament in decades, the thing that Forbes said will be bigger than television in 10 years, is going to fail because you don’t know how to take some dramamine?

I hate to break it to you, but just because you have a weak stomach doesn’t mean that the rest of society does.

SlyNine

Wouldn’t that suck if you were the guy that couldn’t handle the next big innovation. I certainly hope I’m not that guy because I cannot wait for my Oculus.

GifCo

You are an IDIOT!

MasterElwood

yes. yes he is.

SlyNine

Yes, it’s exactly like 3dtv…. exactly the same thing. They have the same experiences and target the same audiences. Are you for freken real?!

mareknr

I hope they add more countries to pre-order rift soon.

Dan Brown

People are total mugs these days, no wonder we all get ripped off.
It is the must have it now society that allow for these blatant rip off price hikes.
I can afford it but I will wait and see what the competition looks like.
Don’t see the point of making a preorder for something at a rip off price when I won’t get it in 6 months by which time I will know more about the competition.

I guess some people have very empty lives and hope this will the void?

Rebellion

Haha yeah, same goes for people filling their empty lives with overpriced Apple products?

Bezki

The product isn’t even out and you compare it to APPLE and their braindead following?

I agree tho, about, what you said about apple and it’s consumers.
The comparison is just really dumb.

Rebellion

That’s because the comparison was intended to be stupid you nut bar, I was being facetious and trying for a bite. All it says Is that people shouldn’t complain about the price because it’s a drop in the bucket compared to how many people preorder extravagant apple products. The hardware is overpriced for what it is just like Apple but for the experience and new tech I think it’s a perfectly reasonable price to immerse yourself in another reality.

Shawn

While they did bad PR on not setting us up for the final price correctly ahead of time I wouldn’t call it a “rip off”. I know pricing is all what people are willing to pay, but when you compare it to a thousand dollar monitor it seems a pretty good deal.

Christiaan

The Rift H/W build quality is amazing at that price-point. Bad PR, maybe – but it would be a good value at $1000.

Mitt Zombie

Value is the worth to the consumer, not selling something people don;t really need or even want for a low margin.

Bezki

Just because you can’t or don’t want to afford it, it’s a rip-off?

Yeahh right. They don’t even make money on them now. They are establishing a user base in a really niche market.

About 1-2% percent of all computer users are meeting the min req. too.

”I guess some people have very empty lives and hope this will the void?”

Lmao. You’re a fucking loser. Really pathetic.

I’m sure you’re one of those and just really bummed you have no money to fill your own void.

I’ve no money but i can live with it. Really not a big deal. YOu just seam really butthurt.

The Truth

LOL some of us have good jobs are a true gamers who don’t mind paying early adoption prices. Hey, there is no shame if you are poor. But I am not. I make tons of money and I can buy whatever I want.(almost) You sound like a jealous twat. You’ll never make any real money expecting people to just hand it to you without working for it. You perfectly represent the current younger generation None of you have any applicable skills to anything yet you expect to be able to buy anything you want simply through sheer entitlement. LOL, incredible.

I would like to buy a Ferrari. But I can’t afford one. So am I going to go around and call people who buy Ferraris losers and say they have no life? Of course not because I’m an adult and understand there are people in this world that are better off than even I am. I don’t EXPECT to be able to own a Ferrari simply because I want one. You are a real piece of work. Man jealously is a real bitch isn’t it?

Mitt Zombie

“LOL” probably another kid that thinks he is rich because his McDonald’s wages pay for a videogame and little else.

Reminds me of the new hire kid at work. He bought a brand new iphone and said people were jealous that they could not afford one. Then he went nearly crying to his boss when he found out they took taxes out of his check and he could not “live on that”.

Masato Indou

it’s an unfortunate reality, people are cheap envious and maybe a little spoiled, they want the best for as low as possible a price (free even hence piracy)

Ainar

The Truth arguing with Dan Brown, this is so meta :P

Masato Indou

empty lives huh? you’re essentially trolling people with *ahem* “empty lives” because they have more money than you, doesn’t that, by your standards, make you look sad and pathetic?

dansecdev

Oculus got their anticipated volumes wrong which could explain the inflated price. Another unpleasantry is they added another $50 (before shipping or taxes) for some non american countries (Australia at least). Saying you’re not a yank pay more for the privilege is offensive and something the Australian government responds directly to now. I’m guessing half their orders will be non North American but they will still spit on ‘the rest of the world’. That many US firms survived the last hard years on international orders does’nt seem to have reduced their reflex arrogance and assumed superiority any.
More relevantly early adopters are unnatural optimists – why be on the bleeding edge when later versions will be fixed for bugs, probably adjusted down in price, have more and stable apps and much more knowledge and hacks in the forums.
But we know the reason isn’t reason its just fanboy fever.
When the temperatures cool you will have an overexpensive probably only partly working and supported device – hope the bragging rights are worth the cost and pain.

It is because the fanboys has a virtual brain! LOL In Britain we are paying over $ 200

Marin Placeholder

It doesn’t matter Dan. The first people to get a $1000 CD player, the first people to get a $1000 DVD player, the first people to get the first $599 (on contract!!!) original iPhone DID have the bragging rights and I’m sure most did think it was worth it at the time.
I wasn’t able to afford any of those firsts myself but at present am a gamer dad with a PC that can handle the Rift and have pre-ordered and am very much looking forward to It.
I wasn’t one of the first people to get an HDTV either but I didn’t lag too far behind and I didn’t regret the decision when I upgraded even though today’s HDTVs are far superior and far less costly.

If you want to wait till its $299 at your local electronics store, that’s your right and you won’t be a fool for doing so, but to hate on early adopters who are the catalyst to the v2 or v3 product finally reaching $299 is senseless.

dansecdev

Who said ‘hate’ ?. And also not holding off the v1.00 product doesn’t imply not getting v1.01 which is stable. Everything I said seems to have been emotionally amplified – sorry I’m not that straw man.
Guess I might have forgotten the childlike excitement of overpriced semi stable v1 purchases as my garage clogged up with them over the years ;)

daiozzz

The ‘hate’ in that context is metaphoric.
NOW STFU YOU’RE JUST JEALOUS!

For a developer, it’s important to get early builds because making software usually takes well over a year.

yag

it’s even more expensive for Europe (US$ 804 here) :(

Omer

The US price of $599 does not include tax (because it depends on the state we order from). The European price you quoted already includes the price. I don’t know what the tax rate of your country is, but it probably explains the higher price.

Tristan Harvey

I guess the shipping charges are due in part to that big case they are giving with the Rift. Shipping in Canada is pretty expensive so I was not shocked….I am hoping it’s Fedex or any fast shipping cie tough

DM

I got the DK2 because I desperately wanted to experience VR, I held off on the DK1, I’ve ordered the CV1 because it should be a far better experience than the DK2.

I dont give a shit about bragging rights, because nobody outside of gaming really understands much about VR anyway.

dansecdev

Yeah VR was really designed for adult kids to play games. This may be the present commercial ‘killer app’ but it grew out of work in simulation for training, remote control and complex reporting interfacing and initiatives in telepresence and immersive media. Hopefully beyond geeks fantasizing themselves as ancient warriors or special operators some of those programs might still be live.

care package

That was one big troll read. At least your not angry. I can see why you surf VR sites

dansecdev

And why do you ? Your contribution is zero. Sniping makes you feel bigger does it?

care package

No going to the gym does.

SlyNine

Viagra can help to. If he needs help. Didn’t sound like he could admit to needing help tho.

SlyNine

Are you crying because Americans are getting a better deal?

Oroku Saki

I am more inclined to believe that a lot of the pre-orders are “fence-sitters” or “resellers.” Since you aren’t charged until it ships, people have time to totally decide they want it. Guarantee you, that day one will have ebay flooded with $1000 CV1s.

The Truth

That’s exactly what I’m doing. Luckily my ship date isn’t one of the first batches so I can decided after the first units ship and people starting reviewing them if I want to cancel my order or not. I’m in the perfect spot. I can allow the first people to tell me whether or not to keep it and not waste my money!

BTW – reselling makes no sense. Why would someone buy a resell of something they themselves can just order and wait for? Reselling only works if there is no way to currently get what is being resold. For example, if the first batch of Oculus sold out and they were taking a break from orders to catch up THEN would be a perfect time to resell. But since any person can just go to the Oculus page and order right now it makes no sense. Nobody is going to pay a premium to get something 3 months earlier than they could just get themselves simply by waiting. I guarantee you if anyone DOES put their Oculus on eBay for 1k nobody will buy it.

Sven Viking

The same sort of thing already happened with DK2. Some people or companies will pay hundreds extra to avoid waiting extra months.

Oroku Saki

Yes they are. People can and do pay a premium for that exact thing, all the time. This will be no different. Since pre-orders are backed up to June already, some impatient people will let the resellers win and pay double price for a RIFT now rather than have to wait.

For some people, time is equivalent to money.

fluffzbunny

I want to be that rich lol. You have no tables ready? Heres a 100 make it happen

Masato Indou

unfortunately reselling is a brilliant yet cruel way of making money, and those $1000 ORs on ebay? there will be people that would go for that rather than wait till September-December before they get their retail copies
not everyone would go for it, but I can guarantee you there will still be people that would (50/50 I think)

Jon Collins

Well, a year ago I was under the impression that it would be affordable, and an expected price of $300, which is much more reasonable to a guy working at Wal-Mart than a price of $600.

Now I’m confident in the fact that I will never be able to own one. Not because I don’t want it, because believe me, I DO! I will just never be able to afford it due to the cost of living… Sigh.

Sky Castle

I wouldn’t say never. Like all new things in life prices will always be a premium at first. It will become affordable when the next new toy arrives. I can’t wait until everyone gets a chance to experience VR. It’s one of the best thing I have ever seen in my entire life, and I am really old lol (41 years old)!

Jon Collins

You have a very valid point sir.

daiozzz

I agree with every word of that young man and i’m 46.

jkflipflop98

How much did your smart phone cost again?

Jon Collins

My smart phone was free since I traded in, and it’s $50 a month.

John Malkovich

Just wait until 2017, the price will drop to 300 $ or 400 $, and there will be
A LOT more games made exclusively for VR.
I’m sure most people will do that, including me, because I live in Europe,
and the price of Oculus Rift CV1 is 700 euros here, which is 760 US dollars…
that’s insane.
I really want to buy it, but the best thing to do is just have some patience and
wait for the price drop in 2017.

Pioneers get arrows in their backs, settlers take the land.
The early adopters are the pioneers, guys like us are the settlers. :)

To be honest, once the initial backlog has been built and shipped, you’ll start to see them appear on E-bay at a lower price, so you might only have to wait till July/August.

crim3

I think I should stop reading comments. You people are making the waiting for my Rift a sad thing.

Marin Placeholder

Chin up Crim. If you’ve tried 3dtv and Google Cardboard you know the technologies are worlds apart. Don’t let the trolls get to you ; )

Oz Vessalius

Wow. 11 days the Pre-Orders opened up and it’s already back 4 months. I should be sad that even when it gets released at the end of March, I’m still not gonna be able to get one for many months, but I’m actually happy that it’s doing so well. I tried a DK2 version at a Comic Con back in 2014 and it was amazing. I can’t wait to see how far they’ve come from then and I really hope this is the beginning of VR. It can only get better from here.

Squirrel Master

My first experience with VR took place in the summer of 92′ in philadelphia. In the demo, I was in some sort of geometrical structure with a man slowly stalking me. It creeped the hell out of me as a kid. I can’t wait to get the vive. I’ve already spec’d out a new pc to handle the graphics.

alfrhed

The ship dates are annoying but it sounds like some vendor bundles are not only selling rift/pc bundles that will be available much sooner than the current Rift delivery dates but will also be discounted. Cant wait!!!

UltraHD3dPS4

Oculus needs to figure out how to keep with demand or they will lose customers, Amazon is the biggest online store and its not even listed on there, it sounds like they are just making these out of a basement and cant keep up, I don’t think I will purchase one anymore, I have a really good pc so the starvr has my eye since it has dual displays with higher FOV and higher resolution.

daiozzz

The simple reason for this my friend is they need to build for the end demand. The cost of a manufactured product like this at high volume for a short period would be exponentially more.

PS. I do feel your pain:(

Pre Seznik

I do hope it’s successful, I think that’s very important for VR right now. Can’t wait to read about actual numbers and compare them to other platforms, even if that comparison is apples to oranges.

It’s cool but not 600 cool. I will wait for second generation oculus at half the price.

klepp0906

Really? Years and years and you can’t make enough units to get out all pre orders on time? You didn’t sell THAT damn many.

Sigh. Those of us waiting for our tax returns are hosed and guess what?

By then vive and psvr will be available. Wave goodbye to tons of potential customers!

Def not interested in getting into eve after everyone is all geared up.

Ball dropped on the controllers too. Sell a version without the Xbox controller for the majority who already have one. Also shoulda waited for touch to be done before launching but since it’s not and your trying to profit on something that should be included.

Whoa. Ben, I feel like I just jumped out of a time capsule. I’ve only been away from RoadToVR for a few months, but it seems like the comment section has evolved from witty snark to not-so-witty vitriol in no time flat. Where did all these angry VR fans/haters come from? Are these the mass market adopters we’ve been waiting for? Yikes.

Scott butler

I pre-ordered Oculus Rift on the 28th of March and I’m still waiting for it please can anyone tell me when is going to hit the UK

Scott butler

Can anybody tell me when Oculus Rift is coming to the UK I pre-ordered one on the 28th of March and I haven’t heard nothing about it can anybody tell me the actually write day is coming to UK